This weekend Saturday Night Live returns for the season 44 premiere with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West.
But was it supposed to be Ariana Grande??
Related: Ariana Says She Wants A Small Tour
On Thursday’s Origins with James Andrew Miller podcast, executive producer Lorne Michaels said Grande was the original musical guest but canceled after a “tough month”:
“We had Ariana drop out for emotional reasons two days ago. That’s our premiere, and then Kanye stepped up, and he’ll be there. So, the reach of the show and the number of people who will step forward is now somehow now, I think, probably at its peak.”
This seems to play right along an emotional recent Twitter thread in which the God Is A Woman singer declared how overwhelmed she was.
Kanye was announced all the way last Monday, so the interview would have to be at least two weeks old.
Big day, big news. #SNLPremiere pic.twitter.com/r7o6nO5nyv
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) September 17, 2018
Innerestingly, a source told Us Weekly Ari “was never booked to perform during this weekend’s premiere.”
Maybe Lorne was referring to a verbal commitment made before the tragic death of Mac Miller?
Yeah, that was in the beginning of September. “Tough month” is a bit of an understatement.
We hope she takes as much time as she needs — then joins fiancé Pete Davidson for what is sure to be the most anticipated episode of the season.
Hear the Ari talk about 50 mins in (below):
[Image via WENN.]
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